Developing Markets Platform

Future growth markets

Emerging markets are the growth markets of the future, and they must be taken into account when companies consider their growth strategies and their needs for renewal and innovation. Emerging markets have a rapidly growing population and economy that attract international investment flows and attention – for example, the EU Global Gateway strategy aims to mobilise around €300 billion in investments in sustainable development projects globally. 

The need for sustainable solutions

Finnish companies and their partners can provide solutions to various development challenges in growing emerging markets – in a way that makes business sense and is compatible with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Examples of development challenges that require sustainable solutions include:

• pollution or environmental pollution
• lack of adequate waste management, sanitation or clean water
• lack of food security or unsustainable use of natural resources such as forests, land and water
• inadequate or overly expensive access to health services, quality education,
  inadequate infrastructure for financial services, energy or the internet, such as road, bridge, rail or port networks
• lack of entrepreneurship or low industrialisation and productivity
• lack of decent jobs or sources of income, or poor safety at work;
• insufficient capacity and lack of skills
• gender inequality or the exclusion of vulnerable groups, such as minorities;
• Finnish companies and their partners are developing a variety of innovative solutions for green, zero-carbon and circular economy, as well as digitalisation and healthcare. This can be seen, for example, in Business Finland's missions and programmes.

Sustainable development, cooperation and partnerships are at the heart of our operations as we help Finnish companies enter emerging markets.

The Developing Markets Platform is a cooperation platform between Business Finland and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where Business Finland's unique innovation and export promotion expertise is combined with the services of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and other key partners, such as Finnpartnership. Business Finland is a core member of the Team Finland network, which brings together all of Finland's public internationalisation services.

Perspectives on innovation and growth

The Perspectives on Innovation and Growth series encourages Finnish companies to think strategically about future growth markets and customer needs. We encourage companies to think about their international growth strategies and renewal and innovation needs in the light of long-term global trends. 

The Perspectives on Innovation and Growth series contains concise snapshots of selected global topics, including links to more information. Each snapshot briefly discusses the potential business impact of the topic in question and raises some questions for companies to consider as they consider growth in a changing world: 

Snapshot 1 – Population growth – Emerging markets, especially in Africa, are expected to account for most of the world's population growth in the coming decades. 
Snapshot 2 – Economic growth – Emerging markets are growing faster than developed markets and account for a large share of global economic growth.

Complementary funding model

The Developing Markets Platform cooperates with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Finnpartnership on innovation funding, which helps companies develop sustainable solutions together with local partners in emerging markets. Companies that have a research and development (R&D) project funded by Business Finland can apply for a 75% de minimis grant from Finnpartnership for the (further) development of innovative solutions in emerging markets.

The additional funding project for emerging markets must be linked to the R&D project funded by Business Finland. An R&D project – a research, development and piloting project for SMEs, midcap or large enterprises or a sub-project of companies under a Co-Innovation joint project – does not have to focus specifically on emerging markets. An R&D project can be a new (applied for and) approved project, an ongoing project, or a project that ended no more than five years ago.

Read more about the complementary funding model

UN procurement as an export channel

The value of UN procurements for emerging markets is approximately USD 20 billion per year – these procurements cover a wide range of products and services, from pharmaceuticals to transport. With the help of market information, sparring and networks, we help Finnish companies to get to grips with UN procurements in emerging markets. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are central to the UN system, which consists of bodies, specialised agencies, funds and programmes.

Read more on how to sell to the United Nations

International Financial Institutions

The financial flows of international financial institutions to developing countries amount to approximately USD 150 billion annually. We use market information and networks to help Finnish companies access the acquisition and investment opportunities offered by international financial institutions. These opportunities are offered, for example, by the World Bank Group, regional development banks and the EU. Development impacts and sustainable development are key drivers of the work of international financial institutions.

Read more about international financial institutions

Geographical coverage

Our work can cover developing countries, from least developed countries to upper-middle-income countries, as defined by the OECD. Business Finland has offices in the following emerging markets:

• Brazil
• India
• Indonesia
• Kenya
• Mexico
• Morocco
• Nigeria
• Peru
• South Africa
• Türkiye
• Vietnam

East Africa – with Kenya as the centre – and Ukraine are currently the focus of our work. In addition, a pilot project funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and implemented by the HAUS Development Centre aims to strengthen the Developing Markets Platform in Indonesia and the Philippines.